Romantic Advice
by SpyralHax
Summary: Set after Southern Raiders. Sokka catches Zuko outside one night, and they get to talking about their troubles with the opposite sex. NOT YAOI, just to let you know.


**Romantic Advice, or Bonding Under Moonlight**

**Rating: K**

**No pairings, per se. Set right after Southern Raiders. Sokka catches a shadowy figure late one night, and follows them. When he finds out it is Zuko, they get to talking. All friendship, no pairings (especially no Yaoi). Both go into a little explanation about their issues with the opposite sex. And the others make their appearances. Might do a sequel, depending on the fan reception.

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"Ah, that's better," Sokka sighed in relief, exhaling a deep breath as he fastened his clothing about him after performing one of the basic biological functions. As he walked along the cool brown floor down the hallway, he caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. Natural suspicion took over, and instead of sneaking off back to bed, he crept slowly towards the figure.

He watched as the slightly taller, slender figure crept outside of the royal summer home, following a decent distance behind. The young water tribesman thought for a moment about going back to alert the others, or retrieve his sword. But, his curiosity had been piqued, and so he continued to follow the figure into the night air.

The person did not seem in a rush, or suspicious. They cast no gaze behind them, instead making their way steadily towards the small hill overlooking the beach. Sokka crept along behind the figure, darting behind the occasional tree or small mound of earth to prevent himself from being seen.

As he followed the shadowed figure, one last obstacle remained between him and the edge of the cliff. Dark nighttime clouds passed over the moon, obscuring his view of the shadowy figure. He could only make out the outline of the person as they took a seat near the edge of the cliff, a solemn head gazing almost sadly up at the sky above.

Nothing seemed to move for a few minutes, the person only lightly humming to themselves in a somewhat familiar vocal pattern. Sokka tried to place the voice with a face, but found the task difficult.

"Sokka, I know you're there, so you might as well come out here," the male voice said, a deep sigh accompanying the warning. The water tribe boy's face rose into a look of surprise at being discovered, but even more from the voice of the person who had spoken. As the moon came back into view, the small space lit up, revealing the face of the scarred Fire Nation prince. The older teen smiled weakly as he watched Sokka move from his "hiding spot".

"Zuko? What are you doing out here at this time of night?" the boy asked, trying to get his heart to stop beating so strongly in his chest. The older boy turned his gaze back to the sky above, his messy black hair falling lazily around his face as he did so.

"I couldn't sleep. Bad memories, I guess," Zuko said unusually sadly, drawing the curiosity of the younger boy. The soft grass nipped at his ankles as he walked towards the small overhang, a gentle breeze blowing in off of the sea. A smile crossed his face at the familiar scent of salty air, bringing with it reminders of home.

"What kind of memories?" Sokka asked seriously, dropping down next to the boy who had been the enemy of his group for so long. He let the breeze blow against his body, rustling his blue tunic and the messy locks of brown hair.

"Bad ones," Zuko replied sternly, not particularly wanting to go into too much detail with the younger boy.

"Aww, come on, buddy," Sokka said jovially, nudging the older teen in the side with his elbow. "We're all friends here, so you can feel free to open up a little more," he continued, a bit more seriousness in his voice as he turned his own focus onto the sea before him, feeling a twinge of sadness at the sight of the large white orb floating on the dark surface.

A moment of silence passed as they sat there, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff carelessly. Zuko pondered what to say, while Sokka reminisced about the love he had lost long ago.

"Sokka?" Zuko asked somewhat hesitantly, bringing the darker boy's attention back to the Fire Prince to his right.

"What is it?" he asked nervously, surprised to hear Zuko speak so suddenly.

"You told me once that your first girlfriend became the Moon Spirit, right?" he asked, catching the sad look on the younger kid's face at the mention of the event.

"Yeah. Yue," Sokka said the name with such care and sadness, Zuko thought for a moment that he had tread on unsteady ground.

"I'm sorry I brought it up. I was just wondering, what kind of person was she," the fire bender said in his gentlest tone, watching Sokka drop onto his back, blue eyes resting on the white sphere above. The frown turned into a warm sort of smile, and he turned to his newest traveling companion.

"This is just between you and me, right?" Sokka asked somewhat nervously, Zuko smirking as he figured Katara's brother did not want Suki to overhear what was about to be said.

"Well, unless someone's out there, but is better at hiding their presence than you are," Zuko joked, snickering a bit as he watched the younger boy look suspiciously behind him.

"Seriously, Zuko," Sokka said more seriously, still casting an occasional glance to the small patch of beach behind them. Zuko kept the smile on his face as he nodded, offering his sworn secrecy to whatever information the younger boy was about to tell him.

"It'll be our secret," Zuko said, figuring that it must be something really sensitive.

"She was… perfect," the boy began, a sad yet fulfilled smile on his face as he thought of the white haired girl. "Yue was smart, kind, fun, and beautiful," he continued, his and Zuko's eyes both watching the moon as it stood its nighttime vigil over the world below.

"Sounds like you had it pretty bad for her. Was that before Suki?" Zuko asked, curious how someone like Sokka could attract so many girls.

"Well, I met Suki first, but Yue was my first love. It really hurt when she…" Sokka paused, finding it difficult to relay the story.

"Oh. I'm sorry, buddy," Zuko said, his guilt washing over him.

"Why are you apologizing? I mean, it wasn't your fault that that happened, it was Zhao's," Sokka said reassuringly, his teeth gritting a bit at the thought of the bearded Admiral of the Fire Nation.

"But it's still pretty lousy. My uncle told me about what happened at that time, and I can't believe that Zhao would do something like that," Zuko said, his heart going out to the younger boy next to him.

"Well, everyone has their parts to play in life, you know? That was just hers," Sokka said, silently wishing to see the Water Tribe princess again, even if one last time.

"It must have hurt a lot, to lose someone you love so much," the scarred boy said, speaking from his own personal experience, the loss of his mother.

"Yeah, it did. But, then I met up with Suki again, and you know the rest of the story," Sokka said, wanting to get off of the subject as quickly as possible, lest he showed more emotion than he needed.

"Does Suki know about Yue?"

"Yeah. I don't think she likes the idea, but there's not much I can do about it," Sokka laughed a bit at the thought, imagining the puffy cheeks and reddened skin of an angry, jealous girlfriend.

"What about Ty Lee?" Zuko said, smirking as Sokka shot him a surprised look.

"What did she tell you?" the boy asked nervously, sitting up to stare directly at the golden eyed Fire Prince.

"Nothing. She just told me once that she thought you were cute, so I figured she flirted with you a little. I was just wondering if you returned the favor," he asked, his brow raising a bit at the flustered reaction of the younger boy.

"Ugh, I forgot you and her are all buddy buddy," Sokka complained, imagining what might happen if Suki got wind of that particular fact. "It was nothing, I swear. I just thought she was kinda, you know, pretty," Sokka admitted, his gaze shifting to the foaming tides at the base of the small cliff.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Suki. But make sure everything's straight eventually, alright? Even though she can be kind of annoying, Ty Lee's still my friend, so I don't want her to get hurt too bad," Zuko cautioned, earning a smile from the younger boy.

"Oh? Don't worry, I won't let there be any misunderstandings or anything. But, are you sure she's just a friend to you?" Sokka leered, his grin widening at the blush he noticed on the face of the older boy.

"Don't be stupid. Mai's the one I like, not Ty Lee," he said, not entirely convincing the younger boy.

"Hey, I won't tell if you won't," Sokka teased, Zuko nodding in agreement. The two shared a light hearted laugh at the situation, Zuko's a bit more hesitant. "So, what kind of memories were you holding onto that brought you out here in the middle of the night?" Sokka asked, dropping the smile as he noticed Zuko do the same.

"It's complicated," Zuko said.

"Hey, it's not fair for me to open up and then have you shut yourself off."

"Nobody made you spill it," Zuko reasoned, verbally jabbing the younger boy.

"Hmmm…." Sokka huffed, not enjoying being outsmarted in an argument. After a moment, Zuko sighed, before imitating Sokka's earlier movement and lying flat on the ground behind him.

"It's just that, when I saw the look on your sister's face earlier today, it reminded me all over again of just how I was not so long ago. How angry I felt, all the people I hurt," he explained sadly, images of all the people he had encountered on his journey, good and bad, flashing through his mind.

"Somehow I don't think you're talking about Aang and the rest of us, are you?" Sokka reasoned, recognizing the pained tone of voice of the emotional prince.

"Well, I feel bad about hunting you guys, sure. But it seems that wherever I go, people have to suffer for me to live," he continued, his hands clenching painfully as he held them against his chest.

"Like who?" Sokka asked, his curiosity complementing his concern for the young man to his right. In only the short time they had been traveling together, Zuko had proven a reliable ally and oddly caring friend, so he figured it was his turn to do SOMETHING for the guy.

"Let's just say that I'm not exactly proud of my track record, especially when it comes to dealing with girls. They always seem to get hurt," he said sadly, after thinking it over for a moment.

"Wait, you've had other girlfriends besides the gloomy girl?" Sokka asked in surprise, Zuko flashing a moment of anger at the supposed insult. "Oh, sorry, it's just that you used to be such a jerk, it's hard to imagine a girl liking you," he apologized, offering another backhanded insult in the process.

"It's not exactly like that. It's just… complicated."

"Girls can be pretty crazy sometimes."

"At least you didn't grow up being tormented by Azula every day."

"Thank God."

"Jin."

"Who?"

"A girl I met in Ba Sing Se," Zuko began, images of the messy head of brown hair, and sweet smile flashing through his mind as he spoke. "When I was working in uncle's tea shop, this girl kept showing up, staring at me all the time. It really unnerved me, and I thought we had been discovered as being fire benders," Sokka laughed loudly at the idea of a paranoid Zuko, being suspicious of a girl.

"So, a girl had a crush on you, and was making googly eyes at you while you worked? There's so many things about that scenario that are so hard to imagine. I bet everyone would love to hear this," he teased, lowering the laugh into a silent smirk at the heat he felt rising from the young Prince.

"God, forget it," Zuko huffed, averting his scalding gaze back to the moon overhead.

"No, sorry. It's just hard to imagine a Prince working in a teashop," Sokka admitted, apologizing for his outburst.

"Well, you have to what you have to in order to survive," Zuko said darkly, silently missing the simple life that being a server at a teashop offered.

"I get that. Honest work beats foraging for food, at least," Sokka said, remembering the difficulties of his journey with the Avatar, how often he had had to scavenge for berries or whatever other edible foods could be scrounged up.

"Tell me about it," Zuko added, his own memories of his solo travels stinging him deeply.

"So, what happened with this Jin girl?" Sokka asked, pulling his legs into a cross legged position, leaning back against his arms.

"Nothing. She asked me out on a date, which my uncle forced me into accepting," Zuko said, smiling at the jovial way his uncle had made the decision for him.

"I assume it was a total disaster?" Sokka implied, Zuko's face falling into a more solemn expression.

"Not a total disaster. I made a fool out of myself at first, but by the end, it was really… nice," he admitted, a smile returning at the thought of the soft, gentle kiss he had shared with the earth kingdom girl.

"Did you kiss?" Sokka asked, natural curiosity again peeking its head into the conversation.

"Yeah. But, I knew it couldn't work, so I left right after that. I didn't see her again until after the fall of Ba Sing Se, when I was on a date with Mai," Sokka knew what Zuko meant when he said he hurt a girl a that point, imagining what an awkward situation it must have been.

"That sounds rough," the younger boy said, glad he hadn't been made to deal with a situation like that.

"Yeah. But I bet she's better off, anyway. Once the war is over, the people there will have a chance to live a better life, and I would have just messed that up," Zuko said, his smile warming as he kept the image of her infectious warmth in mind. "She actually kind of reminded me of Ty Lee. She was really sweet, and nice, and she had a really nice smile," he continued, not realizing that he was rambling.

"Sounds like it could have worked."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you were talking, you had a really weird smile on your face. Either you really liked this Jin girl, or you have more of a thing for Ty Lee than you're willing to admit."

"I don't have a thing for Ty Lee!" Zuko yelled, feeling himself growing hot under the accusations of the younger boy.

"Okay, okay. But still, that doesn't sound too bad. I mean, at least Jin is alive, and it's not like you killed her parents or something. I'm sure she doesn't hold it against you," Sokka said in his usual indifferent tone, honestly surprised by the fact that the Fire Prince did have a dimension that had not been shown before.

"But it's not like I can apologize to her."

"Why not? It's easy. You just walk up to her, and say 'I'm sorry'. I've had to do it lots of times. It's easy as pie," Sokka joked, earning a sigh from the older boy.

"She doesn't know who I am. She thinks I'm an Earth Kingdom boy named Lee," Zuko said, the pain stinging him again at the thought of having lied to someone who was so pure, so trusting of him.

"Ouch. That does sound rough. But, if you really want, you can still apologize. That's the beauty of it, that it's never truly too late. But I bet you'd have lots of explaining to do if you go back to Ba Sing Se just to apologize to a girl," Sokka joked, his laugh bringing a wry smile from the young Prince.

"That's true. But I have so many people I would have to apologize to, I wonder if I could do it with a whole lifetime."

"Aww, no need to apologize to us, Zuko. We all know you're sorry, and you're helping us to end the war," Sokka said teasingly, noticing the deep intake of breath from the older boy.

"There's whole towns, pretty much the whole Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and Aang in particular. The Fire Nation pretty much messed everything up," Zuko said, putting his hands behind his head, propping it up as he watched the slow fall of the moon.

"Zuko, nobody expects you to make up for everything that the previous Fire Lords did. That would be crazy. It wasn't your fault," Sokka said, letting his legs dangle once again over the edge of the cliff.

"But it is my fault. It's my family, so all that blood runs through my veins, stains my hands," Zuko said in frustration, unsure how someone who caused so much pain and suffering could even begin to claim to want to help the world.

"They're them, and you're you. All you can do is control the things you are directly responsible for, and not let yourself repeat the mistakes of the past," Sokka responded, smirking at his own words of wisdom. Zuko stared incredulously at the Water tribe warrior, before bursting out in laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. That just sounds exactly like what uncle would say," Zuko said, catching the insulted look on the face of the younger boy.

"Well, he is a pretty smart guy, so I guess great minds think alike," Sokka said proudly, knowing how wise Iroh was.

"Then how did you think of it?" Zuko teased.

"Everyone's a critic."

"Sorry, Sokka. Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"If you stole an ostrich horse from someone, what would you do to make up for it?" Zuko asked, letting his mind drift to the one other person he recalled hurting personally in his time among the Earth Kingdom.

"What? You stole an ostrich horse? From who?"

"A girl named Song…"

"Another girl? Man, maybe I should go to you for romantic advice."

"It wasn't like that. I don't think so, anyway. One day, uncle ate some bad herbs and got pretty sick, so we stopped in a little Earth Kingdom town. A girl and her mother who ran a hospital looked after him then invited us to dinner. I wanted to refuse, but uncle accepted on his own," Zuko said, annoyed at how often his uncle made decision that affected both of them.

"Damn, sounds like she had a thing for you, to me," Sokka said somewhat sarcastically, digging in his ear as he looked away from the depressed prince.

"No, I think she was just too nice and too trusting. She told me about herself, really opened up to me, and how did I repay their kindness? By stealing one of their ostrich horses. Like I said, all I seem to do is hurt people," Zuko said sadly, closing his eyes in an attempt to block out the crushed look on the girl's sweet features.

"If you're really sorry, then you just have to apologize from the heart. These girls seem pretty nice, if they were willing to trust you, so I'm sure they'll accept it if you apologize honestly," Sokka said simply, waving his hand in dismissal as though it were only common sense.

"You make it sound so easy."

"Like I said, I've gotten lots of practice at it. So, of course it's easy. But for that one girl, Song, right? You should give her a present. Girls really like presents, especially when it's from a guy they like."

"I told you it wasn't like that!" the older boy shouted again, frustrated with the innuendo being slung his way by the water tribe warrior. "But, I guess you're right. Once this is all over, I'll just have to apologize to them," he said, smiling as he felt himself calm down.

"That's the spirit. But you have to let me come with you when you do," Sokka gave his condition, waving a single finger in front of his face.

"Why would I want you to come? It'll be hard enough without comments from the peanut gallery," Zuko fumed, sighing in frustration at the thought.

"Come on, I won't make it harder for you. I just want to see what these girls look like, if they can just accept, you know," Sokka tried to gingerly point out the disfiguring scar, to Zuko's chagrin. "Anyway, I'm not Toph, so I won't just insult you about your embarrassment. At least, not too bad."

"Ugh. Fine. God, what the hell is wrong with me, just pouring my guts out like this," Zuko asked to himself, propping himself up as he continued to watch the moon sink slowly towards the horizon. "Sokka?" he asked seriously, earning a raised brow from the younger boy.

"What is it?"

"Do you think you'll ever meet her again?" he asked, knowing he didn't need to elaborate any more than that. Sokka had a wistful look on his face as he watched the bright reflection in the moon, nearly being able to make out the girl's soft features.

"I'm sure of it," he said positively, dusting himself off as he stood from his seated position.

"I wish I could be as positive about things as you all seem to be," Zuko said somewhat darkly, imagining how awkward it would be to make his personal apologies. He wasn't so upset with the fact that Sokka would no doubt insist on tagging along, but that he was bad at dealing with people in general. Much less people he had hurt personally.

"Aww, Sparky is feeling sad," Zuko's golden eyes widened as he heard the familiar teasing tone of the feisty Earth bender. Looking behind him, he felt like throwing himself off of the cliff, as the assorted members of the gang made their way over to him.

"How long have you guys been there?" Zuko asked hurriedly, his cheeks burning as he hoped they had not been there too long.

"Long enough," Suki said with a hint of hurt in her voice, the words clearly meant for Sokka alone. The boy noticeably winced as he began a long series of apologies to his girlfriend, proclaiming that she was the only one for him, and how much he cared for her.

"I never knew you had a girlfriend in the Earth Kingdom, that's so romantic," Katara said, sighing as she ran the scenario through her positive mind.

"I think what Katara means is that you don't have to face your past alone, Zuko. You helped us all out over the last few days, so we want to be there for you when you make amends with your past," Aang said, his usual cheery voice.

"What the hell are you all doing up at this hour, anyway?" Zuko gruffed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration as he pulled himself to his feet, watching the others come to a stop a short distance in front of him.

"Well, Snoozles didn't come back, so Suki got really paranoid, thinking that something had happened, so she woke us all up. Then we realized you weren't in bed either, and figured it must be something serious, but all you guys were doing was having a moment," Toph teased, prodding both boys at once.

"We weren't having a moment!" they both shouted at once, amused laughter echoing from the shorter girl at their outbursts.

"If you say so. Anyway, I agree with Sokka. I think we'd all love to see what kind of girl would have a thing for someone as rough around the edges as you," she said, pointing at the angry Fire Prince.

"Ugh. I need to get some sleep. Good night," the boy huffed, trying to pass by the trio of powerful benders.

"Come on, Zuko. We want to help you. That's what it means to be part of the team," Aang said, grasping the older boy's larger hand with a smile on his face. Zuko stopped, putting the most serious look on his face as he turned back to the group.

"No way."

"I bet they're both hideously disfigured, that's why he doesn't want us around," Toph joked, the others looking somewhat suspiciously at Zuko at the comment.

"Well, if that's true, then Zuko is a truly terrible person," Suki said teasingly yet dangerously at the same time, her own hurt over his burning down her village coloring her comments.

"I'm sure it's nothing like that. Zuko's not so shallow, or so mean that he would just hurt someone because they're not attractive. He's an equal opportunity jerk," Toph said scathingly, feeling the heat and tension in the older boy's body.

As the others in the group continued to talk about their upcoming trip back to the Earth Kingdom to set Zuko's individual wrongs right, the person in question simply fumed to himself, for being such an idiot.

'_I better learn to keep my mouth shut with these guys around,'_ he cautioned himself, feeling a large knot form in his forehead. He had gotten so involved in opening up to Sokka that he hadn't noticed the others approach, something he didn't like at all.

Suddenly he was in no rush to end the war.

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**Well, this was the first fic I have written like this, so let me know if it came out poorly. Again, sequel (or series of sequels) if the fan response is good, otherwise you just have to use your imagination :P As I wrote this, I started to like Jinko, so planning on writing one of those one of these days. Hope you all enjoyed this little piece.**


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